park. the victims, the gunman here all university of maryland students. this is happening just -- happened just after 1:00 this morning in the 8700 block of 36th avenue near the university of maryland campus and that is where news 4's megan mcgrath is live with the latest information. megan, bring us up to speed. >> reporter: aaron, we received an update from prince george's county police and they say this is a murder-suicide involving three university of maryland students. all roommates. all living in a home in the 8700 block of 36th avenue. here in college park. now, as i mentioned, the three students were all roommates living in this home. one of the men lit a fire in the basement. then there was a confrontation which turned deadly. >> the preliminary investigation shows that the gunman set a fire in the basement of the home in which all three men lived. when two of the roommates went to investigate what was going on, they confronted the suspect.

all three then left the house and in the front of the home, the suspect began firing. he shot one of the men and as the second man was running away from the scene, he shot that roommate as well. >> one of the roommates was pronounced dead at the hospital. that second roommate is expected to survive, although he was injured. as for the gunman himself, again, a university of maryland student as well. he then went to the rear of the housa cording to police and took his own life. we have two dead here in this incident. a murder-suicide involving three university of maryland students. no word on whether these are undergraduate students, graduate students. no word on identities of who was involved and the circumstances leading up to all of this. but, again, it started with a fire lit by one of the roommates in a basement. there was a confrontation as the other roommates were fleeing the house, that's when the shots rang out and two are now dead. reporting live in college park, megan mcgrath, news 4. aaron, back to you. megan, thank you.

6:01 now. now to our next shot at wint her weather. there is a storm system in the middle of the country that could bring snow. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is tracking that system. good morning. >> for us, overnight the cloud cover has broken up and we've mostly cleared out. a few clouds north of us and far south of us. temperatures under the cloud cover have overnight stayed elevated. now that we've cleared out a little bit, it's generally low to mid-40s montgomery county. arlington and fairfax now generally in the low to mid-40s as well. through the morning, we'll have lots of sun, blustery northwest wind. we'll stay in the 40s by noontime into the upper 40s. winds gusting around 20, 25 miles per hour. charles town, west virginia, hometown forecast by 3:00 p.m. in the upper 40s there. a look at the rest of the region all the way into this evening. that's coming up in ten minutes. first 4 traffic now with danella on this tuesday morning. >> good morning. still tracking this earlier accident. chopper 4s in columbia, maryland

right now. if you're traveling westbound 32. trying to get on a northbound 29 northbound pike. your exit ramp is blocked by an overturned box truck. crews on the scene trying to turn the truck back on its wheels. it you're thinking of avoiding this mess altogether, the volume is light. depending how long it takes to get the accident out of the roadway -- thinking of taking 95 northbound. instead, here's a look at 32. very light volume here. 95 in maryland north and southbound between columbia and the beltway, no issues to report. crossing over the wilson bridge, picking up volume. no major delays just yet. as you make your way to van dorn, not bad at all, back in ten. danella, thank you. 6:03. angie goff is at the live desk with breaking news out of north korea. >> world powers are angry and preparing right now for an emergency meeting after north korea successfully conducts a nuclear test. since our last report, we've

learned from experts the underground explosion had twice the power of the country's second test in 2009. right now japan is collecting air samples looking for traces of radioactive substances. president obama immediately called the test a highly provocative act and north korea went ahead with the test in d y defiance of -- even by china. looking ahead, the test will draw more sanctions against the north from the u.s. and other countries. at the live desk, angie goff, news 4. this nuclear test comes as president obama prepares to call for a reduction in america's nuclear arsenal. we learned that he will talk about that proposal tonight during his state of the union address. the white house says the president is putting the finishing touches on the speech. focus will be primarily on the economy. and the billions of dollars in budget cuts set to happen automatically on march 1st. president obama has urged congress to pass a short term agreement to avoid those potentially devastating cuts. now, you may want to avoid

driving near the capitol tonight because of the state of the union. capitol police closing several streets starting at 7:00 including constitution avenue between second street east and louisiana avenue northwest. pennsylvania avenue between first and third streets northwest and east capitol streets between second and first streets. independence avenue will be closed between second and washington avenue in southeast southwest. president obama will discuss gun control in his speech and democrats will be showing their support for stricter gun laws by inviting the victims of gun violence to tonight's address. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton invited a woman whose daughter was killed in a drive-by shooting. hadiya pendleton's parents will be there tonight. she's the chicago teen shot and killed days after returning from washington where she attended president obama's inauguration. the first lady attended her funeral and police just arrested

two men and charged them with her murder. the men mistook her and her friends for rival gang members. later this morning, a subcommittee will hold a hearing to discuss ways to reduce gun violence. that committee will review new proposals and look at the legality and effectiveness of current laws. two professors will testify today. the family of hadiya pendleton will be at that hearing before heading to the state of the union. jury selection continues in the man accused fd killing a mother and daughter. jason scott killed delores and ebony dewitt more than three years ago. their bodies were found in the trunk of a burning car in largo. scott is serving 100 years in prison for a sex assault and other crimes. his trial could take a month or longer. if you're just waking up this morning, a murder-suicide involving all university of maryland students. the concern that a hunt for

a former police officer turned murder suspect is about to get a lot bigger. we're tracking -- rather waking up to warmer temperatures with an eye on our next shot at some

had. today marks the 204th anniversary of the birth of lincoln. there's a ceremony that will take place today and a wreath laying at ford's theater national historic site. coming up on 6:11. let's check on the forecast with tom kierein. >> temperatures in the mid and upper 40s. we have partly cloudy to mostly clear skies. temperatures in the 40s around the region from the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches. afternoon highs climbing to around 50 in the rural areas, low 50s in the cities. we'll have the breezes a bit

blustery this morning. gusting to around 20, 25 miles an hour. they'll settle down tonight. then by midnight, temperatures will drop back down into the low 40s. could get snow tomorrow. we'll talk about that and the seven-day outlook. we'll be here in ten minutes. here's danella, good morning. good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, still tracking the accident in columbia, maryland. chopper 4 live now. traveling 32 westbound. you cannot take the exit ramp to 29 northbound because of the overturned box truck still on its side. crews are working to clear the accident. let's head to i-270 at shady grove. your volume picking up a bit. no major delays yet. clear to rockville in both directions. eun in. danella, thank you. 6:11 now. why news that the pope is stepping down could mean big business for some. plus, hardly a dream vacation. the travel horror stories coming from the powerless cruise ship in the gulf of mexico. next, the new tactic police are using to

you see flashing lights in the distance. this is on 36th avenue near metzerott street. we're told that one student apparently set a fire in a home that he shared with two other

university of maryland students at some point after leaving the home one student shot the two others and then himself. one of the two student victims died as a result of the shooting. we'll have a live reporting coming up in a couple of minutes. the ex-police officer accused of murder might be in mexico. authorities have already beefed up security at the u.s./mexico border in the hunt for christopher dorner and warned airports about him. police have put up billboards advertising the $1 million reward for information on dorner. so far the lapd says they've received more than 600 tips in this case. dorner is suspected of murdering three people and targeting other police officers as revenge for being fired from the force a few years ago. new this morning, a united nations agency proposing stricter safety standards on airline batteries in the wake of the boeing 787 battery problems. the proposal would eliminate exemptions that allowed large lithe um eye on batteries to be

shipped on passier planes. they're prone to short circuiting and can catch fire. boeing is testing new batteries after a series of problems last month. right now, more than 4,000 passengers on a stranded cruise ship in the gulf of mexico are on their way to alabama. tugboats now towing the cruise chip triumph. the ship drifted so far north it decided to tow the ship to alabama instead of a port in mexico. an engine room fire knocked out the propulsion system on sunday. no one was hurt but the ship lost power and is running on generators. it is should arrive in mobile on thursday. leon panetta will say goodbye to his colleagues today. he served as defense secretary since july 2011 and before that was director of the cia. his possible replace. chuck hagel, could be one step closer to being confirmed today. the nomination will be put to a

vote. one of panetta's last acts as defense secretary was to extend a list of benefits for same sex spouses and significant others of service members. the perks which were previously denied by the pentagon include child care services, as well as access to on-base commissaries and movie theaters. the policy changes go into effect once training is completed. >> jobs do you know about what's on your credit report? as many as 40 million americans have errors on their credit reports, things like misspelled names, wrong addresses and birth dates. and even in some cases, wrong payment history. those mistakes can keep you from getting a loan, qualifying for lower interest rates and even cost you your job. if you find an error on your credit report, you should immediately contact the credit agencies. this morning, intrigue is building around the world about who will be the next pope. next month more than 100 cardinals will meet at the vatican to begin the closed door ritual called the conclave.

11 cardinals, including donned worrell are eligible to vote. pope benedict will not vote for his successor. he will step down february 28th. he will eventually move into a monastery in the vatican dedicating his time to prayer and reflection. this more than, many people are taking bets on who will become the next pope. the irish gambling house paddy power came up with a top three list. cardinal peter turkson of ghana, 3 to 1 odds. cardinal marc ouellet of canada is second. cardinal francis arinze of nigeria is third. it will be the biggest nonsporting event betting. it will surpass the last papal election. today revelers are in the streets celebrating mardi gras in new orleans. a live look from bourbon street in the french quarter there.

these people haven't gone to sleep or probably aren't very awake either right now. they're partying because it's just starting there. the area has been buzzing with excitement in the buildup to fat tuesday, which is today. little rain hasn't stopped them either. they're very crowded. vendors say ponchos are selling as fast as beads this year. folks up north are still struggling to dig out of their homes after the blizzard this weeke weekend. all that heavy snow and rain is creating new problems. officials are warning that some roofs could collapse from the weight of the snow and ice. in connecticut, at least 16 roofs have caved in already. in long island, one of the areas biggest malls had to be evacuated. police are asking min with a flat roof to clear the snow to ensure they do not spring a leak. >> in new york, some residents are still digging out because they haven't seen a plow. people in the long island town of brook haven say they've been stranded in their homes for days. they called local officials outraged about the lack of help.

all those calls have fallen on brook haven's deputy supervisor. that's because nbc news has confirmed the town supervisor is on vacation and the head of the highway department called out sick on monday. not good timing. pretty tough for them. bad time. it is coming up on 6:21 now. want to get a look at our forecast. tom kierein is tracking what could be wintry weather tomorrow. >> we may get some snow tomorrow night. here's how things will be developing throughout the rest of the day today. lots of sunshine. right now in the 40s. blustery northwest wind diminishing tonight. overnight, after midnight, clouds on the increase. this as of tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. all cloudy but no precipitation. by mid-afternoon, we'll see the precipitation begin to move in. all the areas in green, rain. the areas in the lavender, snow. could be getting wet snow by mid-afternoon out in the mountains of west virginia. perhaps parts of the shenandoah valley. rain east of the blue ridge until early evening.

then it will likely change over to a period of snow. that snow quickly leaving and after midnight all of it is gone. we'll get the sunshine back as we get into thursday. i don't think we'll get any more than a couple of inches. mostly on grassy areas. a lot melting on roadways. that sun back on thursday. we'll get temperatures into the low 50s with lots of sunshine. over the weekend. maybe a little more snow on saturday. it doesn't look like a big storm. sun back, cold on sunday. a bit milder on monday with highs in the mid-40s. i'm back in ten minutes. danella with i look at first 4 traffic. good morning. >> good morning. we'll start with the rails. metro, marc, vre, all on or close to schedule. over to the roadways, 66 eastbound near cambridge road. report of an accident. you're sluggish as you make your way to 28. pretty clear until you get to this.. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. aaron and eun, over to you.

thanks, danella. if you're just joining us, we're live on the scene of breaking news. police investigating a murder-suicide involving university of maryland students. an update is just ahead. plus a really interesting report out this morning. the simple change that could save hundreds of thousands of lives. next, a new option for a morning jolt for those who don't like coffee.

how does mountain dew sound for breakfast. a caffeinated drink, juice drink later had month. it has more caffeine than the regular mountain dew soda. the company hopes to provide an alternative for folks who don't like coffee or tea in morning. kick-start comes in two flavors, orange citrus. it should hit store shelves on february 25th. in news 4 your health, turns out cutting a fraction of your salt intake could add years to your life. officials with the american heart association say americans consume an average of 3600 milligrams of salt every day. cutting a small portion of that will prolong the lives of 280,000 americans.

hypertension and heart disease are caused by high salt intake. experts say cutting back doesn't mean hiding the salt shaker. the problem is the amount of salt being added by food manufacturers. even at home, taste it first. i think a lot of people automatically want to add salt. >> absolutely. good idea. breaking news this morning in maryland. a roommate dispute involving students from the university of maryland turns deadly. it will become law today. the big changes for local teachers. >> a little boy lightens the mood at a very emotional event. what you didn't see at the medal of honor

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a murder-suicide involving university of maryland students. what police say led to that gunfire. a live report just ahead. first, good morning, welcome back to "news4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. we're following breaking news out of north korea. the country just released a defiant message. news 4s angie goff at the live desk with that. >> aaron, this just in. harsh, strong words after north korea conduct a nuclear test. the country saying this was the first response to u.s. threats and warns will continue with

unspecified second and third measures of greater intensity if the u.s. maintains hostility. the north says it was self-defensive measure while the test is seen as a step toward the country's goal of building a bomb that could eventually strike the u.s. world leaders, including the united states and china are angry over this act and are having an emergency meeting. at the live desk, angie goff, news 4. thank you, angie. before we go further, want to look at our forecast this half hour. >> tom kierein is out on the weather deck. how is it feeling out there, tom sm. >> not too bad. beautiful sunrise. sun is coming up earlier and earlier. it's about half an hour. under this clear sky, a blustery wind that's died down. we did have gusts over 25 miles per hour an a couple of hours ago. it's dying down. temperatures in the hoe to mid 40s. you still need a winter coat, though. we're going to hold steady in the 40s through the rest of the morning. by noontime, should be into the

upper 40s. the wind may be picking up later this morning. sunrise at 7:303. sunset at 5:43. by then, much of the region into the low 50s. in burtonsville, that's our hometown forecast location. it should be bright and sunny. by mid-afternoon there, should be in the upper 40s. around the metro area, should hit the low 50s by mid-afternoon. i'll be back in ten minutes with a look at the forecast for the whole region for the day and into tonight. now, let's take a look at traffic with danella, good morning. good morning. just now into the first 4 traffic office, nelson street shut down. west montgomery avenue. you're trying to make your way around this accident. you can use an alternate route. let's head over to 66 at chain bridge road. eastbound, articlier accident, it's off to the shoulder lane. over to i-95 northbound at fairfax county parkway, usual volume in this area. as far as delays, though, you are a bit underspeed. 19 minutes to get from prince

william parkway to the capitol beltway. over to the rails, still looking good. no reported delays on metro, marc or vre. eun? danella, thank you. 6:32. we are following breaking news out of college park. prince george's county police are investigating a murder-suicide involving three university of maryland students. had happened after 1:00 this morning in the 8700 of 36th avenue near the university of maryland campus. megan mcgrath is live with more on how it all unfolded. megan in. >> reporter: >> reporter: eun, students at the university of md hd are -- maryland are waking up to a bizarre murder-suicide off campus. the three students were living in the 8700 block of 36th avenue not far from campus. at around 1:00 this morning, one of those roommates, one of the students lit a fire in the basement of the home. the two roommates confronted him and they were having that

confrontation when they began to flee the home. the two roommates fleeing through the front door of the house. that's when shots rang out. the two roommates were hit, one died at the hospital. they were shot in the front yard of the home. the other roommate was shot but he is expected to live. the shooter then went to the rear of the home and committed suicide. police have not released the identities of those who have died. one sue dent died and the shooter committed suicide. we're awaiting word on the ages of these students who were involved. what their class was. now, as for the investigation just a short time ago, police left the scene. they have reopened 36th avenue. we're going to move down closer to the house and bring you the latest at the end of the show. reporting live in college park, megan mcgrath, news 4. back to you in the studio. megan, thank you. we're learning more about the pedestrian killed late last night in the aspen hill area.

this happened after 10:00 on georgia avenue at heathfield road. police say 59-year-old frank sedwick of silver spring was crossing when he was hit by an altima. he was later pronounced dead. montgomery county police say the circumstances surrounding this accident are still under investigation. in a news 4 exclusive, a maryland father is speaking out about the horrific murder of his baby daughter. the man who only wanted to be identified as mr. sanchez says he was heading over to the mother's home last week when police stopped him outside the apartment. the girl's 14-year-old brother reportedly peat and suffocated here and is being charged as an adult. mr. sanchez says he's heartbroken over his daughter's death and he had never seen the boy mistreat his sister. a little girl is back home and reunited with his father in d.c. after a nationwide alert to find her. last night eric burts and his 6-year-old daughter ariana spent time catching up in their northeast washington home. ariana disappeared on january

31st and was missing for nearly a week. police believe her mother took her to the store and took off. police found them in arkansas. the mother, ebony anderson is still in police custody. commuters, listen up. today could be a crucial day whether tolls will be in check for several years. governor bob mcdonnell's transportation plan will be taken up. the governor was in northern virginia yesterday to explain how his proposal would help people in our area. he says $300 million would help fund phase two of the silver line project for metro. that would offset the expected toll hikes on the toll road. mcdonnell wants to scrap the gas tax altogether and raise its sales tax. the governor is willing to sign a bill that changes how virginia teachers are evaluated. the senate passed the legislation yesterday. it lengthens the probationary period new teachers have to go through before they're offered continuing contracts from three to five years. the bill also puts more emphasis on performance evaluations.

changes the grievance procedure for teachers as well. a neighborhood on edge and angry. the frightening attack on a 15-year-old girl. plus, this morning, we're learning who will be attending the state of the union tonight. it includes a rocker and a ceo. plus a new twitter feature that could be bad news for impulse buyers. we're watching storms dumping rain a long way away. when they could bring snow here. next, a one in a million shot

check this out. you've seen buzzer beaters in basketball before. but nothing like this. in the final seconds of the third quarter of a colorado girls high school game, one player heaves the ball from the free-throw line, the ball travels about 65 feet in the air. takes a bounce, hits the backboard and goes right in. did you see it? this amazing shot only counted for two points. not three. the ball bounced right there within the three-point line.

but still, how about that? >> apparently they retired her jersey after that. no they didn't. >> good shot. coming up on 6:40. the first rays of sunlight. now you can see in front of us. coming up on not too bad a morning, tom kierein is here with the forecast. >> that's a great shot too. live view from the nbc4 hd view city camera. approaching 6:41. we're in the 40s. a bit of a blustery wind. winds gusting around 15, 20 miles per hour the last couple of hours. right as we approach dawn, it's settling down a little bit. temperatures in the low and mid-40s. you still need a winter coat. 40s from west virginia into virginia, maryland, the district, eastern shore. we're going to climb into the low 50s by this afternoon. here's how we're looking hour by hour. a bit of a blustery wind. lot of sunshine. by this afternoon, that wind should diminish a bit. after we hit the low 50s, 2:00, 3:00, it's going to drop back

down to the mid-40s by 7:00 or so. by midnight, it's going to be down to near 40 degrees. now tomorrow we may get accumulating snow. i'll have the latest on the timing of all of that along with your seven-day outlook. that's in ten minutes at 6:51. let's take a look at traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning. still tracking in the first 4 traffic office the accident in rockville. it's along nelson street. that's blocked at west montgomery avenue. if you want o work your way around it, use an alternate route this morning. some delays southbound between urbana as you continue southbound towards clarksburg is where you're slow. further south, not bad at this time. i-95 in virginia, this is northbound at dumfries road. accident just off to the right shoulder lane. travel lanes are open to the beltway. speaking of the beltway, as you make the beltway, outer loop and montgomery county, heavy on the brakes. delays here not long. you're sluggish right now to colesville road.

the rails, six-minute delay. number 892. p metro, vre close or on to schedule. a man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl. it happened near the 3200 block of wheeler road, blocks from the congress heights metro station. police say she was walking when a man with a gun forced her into the alley. the man sexually assaulted her and took off in a dark blue four-door car. if you have any information about this case, call d.c. police. in the day ahead, jury selection resumes in the trial of the man accused of killing a mother and daughter in prince george's county. prosecutors say jason scott killed delores and ebony dewitt more than three years ago. police found their bodies in the trunk of a burning car in largo. scott is serving 100 years in prison for burglaries, a sex assault and other crimes. this trial could take a month or longer. today we're going to keep a close eye on another hearing involving attorneys for two

victims of the virginia tech massacre. they'll be arguing that the state supreme court should hear their clients' appeal. this stems from the lawsuit the victims' families won against the state. they say their daughters could have survived the 2007 shooting spree if virginia tech had alerted the campus earlier about the gunman. a judge later upheld the finding against the state but reduced the damages ziejt in the day ahead, lawmakers will discuss current and possible laws to reduce gun violence. a senate judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing to review new proposals and look at the effectiveness of current gun laws. the director of the johns hopkins center for policy and research and family members of victims will be among those to testify today. president obama will spend today preparing for one. more important speeches of his presidency. he will deliver his fourth state of the union address tonight. the president will lay out his second term agenda. he will likely focus on the economy and the billions of dollars in budget cuts set to happen automatically on march 1st. president obama urged congress to pass a short term agreement

to avoid those potentially devastating cuts. you might want to leave early this evening if you work near the capitol. police are closing several streets in the area starting at 7:00. among them, constitution avenue between second street northeast and louisiana avenue northwest. pennsylvania avenue between first and third streets northwest and east capitol street between second and first street. you know what, there are a lot of streets around the capitol closed tonight. don't go over there if you don't have to, to avoid being stuck. >> don't forget independence avenue. there's a quiz, aaron. invitations to the address to show supports for causes and pending legislation. eleanor holmes wants to demonstrate importance of gun laws. the d.c. resident's 16-year-old daughter was killed by a drive-by shooting. hadiya pendleton's parents will be there tonight. she's the chicago teen shot and

killed afa tending president obama's inauguration. the first lady attended her funeral. police just arrested two men and charged them with her murder. they say the men mistook her for rival members. steve stockton is inviting ted new jersey enugent. the secret service spoke to nugent about questionable comments he made about the president last year. tim cook will had also be there tonight, apple's ceo. clinton romesha was presented the medal of honor where his son got a lot of attention. the toddler made himself at home. he explored the presidential podium before he sat in the seat reserved for his father. the president took note of the wrung man saying collin is not as shy as his father clint. the president also said collin raced around the oval office and sampled a number of apples before he found the one that was just right.

sometimes it's hard to find that perfect sweet apple. it's got to be crunchy, no bruises. >> excuse me. mr. obama. that's an apple i'm going to have now. step aside, sir. very cute. >> i love the innocence. oblivious to what's going on. >> you know who is in charge when there's a little kid around. 6:46 is our time now. going to be a busy week for the president. he's expected to take action on improving cyber security. jackie deangelis joins us with that and more. >> good morning, aaron. president obama may sign an executive order against an increasing number of cyber attraction. congress pald to pass that legislation last year. the president may talk about in the state of the union address. protecting critical infrastructure. back to you. all right. jackie deangelis at cnbc. thank you. later this morning, leon panetta will deliver his

farewell address. he will say final goodbyes to his colleagues at the pentagon. he's been defense secretary since july 2011. also today panetta's possible replacement could be closer to being confirmed. the senate armed services committee plans to vote today on former nebraska senator chuck hagel's no, ma'am mags. montgomery county lawmakers could make it tougher to smoke in public today. the county could you please sill was expected to take action on property owned or leased by the county. could include county bus stops and shemters. under the bill, the county's director of health and human services would be allowed to designate outdoor smoking areas on certain properties. if you live in maryland expect to pay more for natural gas. thera opponents say it will allow them to charge customers for upgrades before the work is done. governor o'malley has not indicated whether he will sign

this bill. new this morning, a recent rash of battery problems on the bole 787 dreamliner sparked proposed safety changes. a united nations agency suggests eliminating exemptions that allow large lithium-ion batteries to be shipped on passenger planes. they're prone to catching fire. boeing tested new batteries in the 787 dreamliners after a series of problems last month, including at least two fires. you can now shop on twitter using your american express card. the credit card company and the online social media site announced it. users will see special products in twitter feed and you can tweet the special hash tag. american express will then confirm your purchase. american express card holders will need to sync their account on twitter. makes me nervous. it really does. all of a sudden things show up at my house. did i buy all this? >> i can't see you not opening it, though.

whatever it is. it is 6:48 right now. want to check in at the live desk with angie goff. >> thank you, aaron. we're hearing that jazz great donald bird who has ties to washington, d.c. has died at the age of 80. he was one of the leading jazz trumpeters of the 1950s and early 1960s. he's most well moan for starting up a jazz studies department. it circulated there were rumors over the last couple of days that he passed away. it is confirmed that he has passed away in michigan by the funeral home confirming that information. jazz great donald bird dies at the age of 80. at the live desk, angie goff, news 4. thank you, angie. turning to the forecast, storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein says enjoy the pleasant weather while it lasts. changes, tom? >> sun is coming up earlier shall the sun is higher. >> optimism. >> we're getting earlier.

more and more daylight. for those who hate snow, that's a good sign. look at this. gorgeous sunset. this was last night in fauquier county. this was sent to weather at nbcwashington.com. and now, we're getting a beautiful sunrise. there is the view from our nbc4 hd sky watcher camera, which is mounted on the tower, 300 feet above the local -- you can see the national cathedral to the left. we have a few clouds floating flew now by later today we're going to be still holding steady in the 40s. reagan national at 48 and we'll stay in the mid-40s, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 this morning. by nn time into the upper 40s. northwest wind should pick up later this morning. gusting up 20 to 25 miles an hour. temperatures elsewhere in the 40s. that includes just about all of northern virginia and all of maryland. prince george's, montgomery, arlington and fairfax counties as well as areas to the west. now, the next storm coming our way may be a snow producer, but

the rest of the day, we'll have sunshine. after midnight tonight, the clouds increase by this time tomorrow morning we won't see much sun. all cloudy. then as the time -- we get to the mid-afternoon hours, the timing on this is rain initially. much of the region. all the areas in green. the areas in lavender, those are zones of potential snow moving into west virginia. parts of the shenandoah valley. by late in the afternoon, early in the evening is with when we get cold air moving in. changing the rain to snow. all around the metro area, northern virginia and much of maryland, not going to last long. it should be all gone by midnight and leaving. a brief visit of snow. maybe an inch or two. mostly on grassy areas and melting on roadways. then the sun returns on thursday. then friday, we'll get sunshine, temperatures into the low 50s. here's how the weekend is looking. maybe another round of some light accumulating snow on saturday and colder weather. highs 30s to near 40. then sunday, partly cloudy into the upper 30s. monday a bit milder.

sunshine returns. highs monday mid-40s. i'll be back with frequent update throughout the "today" show. a look at traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, good news in rockville. if you're travel nelson at west montgomery avenue, that earlier accident is clear. travel lanes are open. shooting over to columbia, maryland. still seeing the ramp from westbound 32. as you take the ramp to head northbound 29, that ramp is still blocked by the overturned box truck. now, we'll head down and check travel speeds. northbound at edsall, usual delays here. traveling towards seminary road. you're underspeed. it's not terrible. you're averaging about 40 miles per hour. take you 16 minutes to get to the 14th street bridge. over to you. 6:52 now. a close call for metro riders. a huge tree fell and landed on a full bus. the crash happened on 16th street and spring road in northwest last night. no one was injured. new this morning, a surprise

announcement from the international olympic committee. one of the oldest sports in out. beginning in 2020 wrestling will not be a core olympic sport. wrestling date back to the first modern olympics. that does not mean we won't see wrestling in the olympics again. wrestling joins a list of seven other sports applying for inclusion. the other sports are baseball and karate. breaking news from north korea. the country says its overnight nuclear test was the first response to u.s. threats. the north called the test a self-defensive measure while some see the test as a step toward the country's goal of building a bomb that could strike the u.s. north korea conducted an undergrou underground nuclear test in the northeast part of the country. it registered on the u.s. geological survey as a 4.9 magnitude blast. president obama released a statement calling the test a "highly provocative act." he went on to say the united states will continue to take

steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies. up next on the "today" show, strong reaction from world leaders in a live report. right now, we've keeping an eye on breaking news in college park. a murder-suicide involving three university of maryland students that happened near the campus in the 8700 block of 36th avenue. megan mcgrath moved closer to the scene now. megan, what do you see? >> reporter: well, aaron, where all happened early this morning. the home here on 36th avenue. you can see evidence of the shots that were fired here. this is the neighbor's car. you can see that the rear windshield has been shot out. now at about 1:00 in the morning, police say that one of the men who lives in this house, a university of maryland student, lit a fire in the basement. his two roommates, also university of maryland students confronted him. there was a lot of discussion inside the house. again, a fire burning in the basement.

the two roommate, they began to flee the house. they left through the front door and that's when shots rang out. the two roommates were hit. one died at the hospital. the other is expected to be okay. the shooter, according to police, then went to the rear of the home and committed suicide. police have not released the identities of the shooter or the other student who was killed. an ongoing investigation trying to piece together the circumstances that led up to this bizarre murder-suicide here in college park. this, of course, behind me. an off campus house. there was an alert telling them what was going on, a shooting in the area. must be a shock for students on the campus of the university of maryland. reporting live from college park, megan mcgrath, news 4. back to you in the stewed crow. >> megan, i know we're still early. any indication, any information about the students involved in this incident in terms of where they might be from or ages or anything at this point?

>> reporter: no. aaron, we have asked those questions, asking for identities, ages, what class they were in. their ages as well. none of that information has been released at this point. we're still talking to the surviving student who was involved in this. the other two students are deceased, they're dead. still very, very early. as the day progresses, we'll get a lot more information from the university as well as from police. right now at this stage, investigators trying to figure out what exactly happened. what led up to this violent attack and suicide. >> megan mcgrath live in college park. she, of course, will stay on the story throughout the morning and have updates. check the forecast one more time with meteorologist tom kierein. we're in the low and mid-40s. kneed a winter coat. blustery wind. highs low 50s. the seven-day outlook, big changes. tomorrow could get cold rain in the afternoon changing to a brief period of wet snow in the

evening. not much a accumulation. maybe a little more snow saturday into monday. danella, how is traffic in. >> that time of morning. 50 in maryland. from the beltway to d.c., it will take you 11 minutes. no accidents in the area. back to you. thank you, danella. that's "news4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. the "today" show is next. we'll be back tomorrow morning at 4:28. hope you'll join us then. have a great day. see you tomorrow. make it a great tuesday everybody. my mom doesn't drink starbucks coffee because she thinks it's too dark, and so i brought her some blonde roast. she loves it now. "my son made me this coffee," "you should try it, it's delicious." ♪

and some people found that a little bit strong.